A wall of dust and water whipped up by cyclone Narelle. Photo: Perth Weather Live

Martin, whose images were first posted on perthweatherlive.com, reported conditions were glassy and flat before the storm hit, but when the wild weather arrived, the swell lifted to two metres, winds increased to 40 knots and visibility was reduced to 100 metres.

A wall of dust and water whipped up by cyclone Narelle as seen in this photo. taken by Brett Martin 25 nautical miles north-west of Onslow, Western Australia. Photo: Perth Weather Live

A ''blue alert'' remained in place for people in or near an area from Whim Creek to Mardie, including Wickham, Roebourne, Point Sampson, Karratha and Dampier.

Narelle is a category 3 severe tropical cyclone which is likely to develop further as it moves on its south-south-west track towards the Northwest Cape. Although there was no immediate risk, people in the area were asked to start preparing for dangerous weather.